What Kind Of First Lady Will Jill Biden Be? Joe Biden's Wife Says She's Not Quitting Her Teacher Job

Future first lady Dr. Jill Biden has been a teacher for 35 years and plans to continue her day job when President-elect Joe Biden assumes the Oval Office on Jan. 20.

Jill Biden has two master’s degrees in education, as well as a doctorate. She has also taught public school for over two decades.

At the Democratic National Convention in August, she spoke from one of her former high school classrooms in Wilmington, Delaware. She spoke on COVID-19 and how it affected schools around the country and that she empathized with those who are having to get comfortable with virtual learning and school during a pandemic.

When Joe Biden was vice president from 2009 to 2017, she continued to teach at Northern Virginia Community College.

And when she takes on the new role of first lady, she will continue teaching at the school.

While she did take a leave of absence from teaching when Joe Biden began his presidential campaign, Jill Biden will enter her 36th year of teaching in 2021.

“I would love to. If we get to the White House, I'm going to continue to teach," she told CBS Sunday in August when asked if she was going to continue her teaching career. "I want people to value teachers and know their contributions and to lift up the profession."

Jill Biden, who has 1.8 million Twitter followers, once tweeted a photo of herself in a high school yearbook as an English teacher. The tweet read, “Teaching is not what I do. It's who I am.” Her Twitter profile reads: "Lifelong educator. Military mother. Grandmother. Sister. Wife to Joe Biden."

A first lady typically takes on projects of their choosing while the president is in office. Jill Biden explained to Vogue in 2019 what she planned on doing if she were to become FLOTUS.

“The beauty of (being FLOTUS) is that you can define it however you want. And that’s what I did as second lady – I defined that role the way I wanted it to be. I would still work on all the same issues. Education would be right up there, and military families. I’d travel all over this country trying to get free community college," she said.

Jill Biden, 69, has been described in glowing terms by many around her. Former first lady Michelle Obama emailed a statement to USA Today about her "dear friend," whom she got to know over several years.

“I’m lucky enough to call Dr. Jill Biden a dear friend, and I’ve seen up close the kindness, empathy, and humor she brings to even the most difficult of situations," Michelle Obama said. "Through our work together in the White House, I’ve seen Jill’s passion, hard work and dedication. As a military mom and an educator, Jill has always led by example, treating everybody she meets with the sort of genuine warmth and care that sticks with you. She is going to be a terrific First Lady.”

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., offered positive words, as well.

“Jill is someone who has a big heart. She’s a tough Philly girl, but she’s also gracious. To be blunt, one of the ways ... I gauge my colleagues is their spouses, and particularly with men ... I am closest to and most admire senators whose spouses are strong-willed, capable, independent people," Coons told the Philadelphia Inquirer.